


Summoning

by HoverJay



Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Fix-It of Sorts, Minor Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-05
Updated: 2018-09-05
Packaged: 2019-07-07 05:42:14
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,210
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15902037
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HoverJay/pseuds/HoverJay
Summary: Roger gave Garp as a grandfather to his son. Rouge, well, Rouge did the impossible. Twice.Marineford Fic.





	Summoning

**Author's Note:**

> Not OC-centric. 'They' in this fic is the ocean itself, in its corporeal form. Just an alternate ending to Marineford. People just don't give Rouge enough credit.

They sighed. Rouge’s son was down there, fighting for his life. They sighed again. Was it necessary to intervene?

But…

Magma flared, and fire disappeared from sight. They dropped this form and shifted into water droplets, appearing in the middle of the battlefield just in time to feel magma slam into their chest. With a hiss, the magma dissipated into nothing, and Akainu’s knees buckled. Devil Fruit users were weak, weaker than even the average humans when they came contact with the ocean.

Strawhat was staring, staring with eyes wide as saucers. Tendrils of water snaked around his ankles, and he fell as if he were poisoned. Rouge’s son visibly jolted, and before he could do anything, they cocooned him with tendrils of water. As he sagged within the grasp, Akainu fell to his knees. Honestly, they were impressed that he had lasted this long. They smirked. 

Sengoku activated his power. They weren’t sure what his fruit was, God God Fruit? Or was it Buddha fruit? They doused him with seawater, and summoned a fog – fog that was so thick that water droplets condescended as soon as the fog hit skin. With a flick of their hands, opponents were torn from each other. Marines and pirates were divided by an invisible line, with Roger’s son in the middle.

They didn’t raise their voice. There was no need to. Regardless of the side of the war that they had partaken in, all watched with bated breath, and waited for the powerful entity to speak. They smiled an angelic smile.

“I never wanted to intervene. But debts are debts, and a promise is a promise.”  
“To whom?”

Akainu hissed. 

“Oh, admiral. I wasn’t expecting you to be up so soon.”

He snarled, and they laughed.

“Don’t be like that. That was an honest compliment.”  
“I don’t need your praise.”  
“Really, Admiral. I was expecting you to be quite a bit smarter than this. Provoking the enemy when they clearly have the upper hand? That is plain stupidity.”

They laughed again at Akainu’s furious snarl. Felling an admiral and one Whitebeard Commander without touching them had done wonders for the silence that had fallen on the battlefield. They opened their mouth, and closed it when they saw Roger’s son stirring in their hold. Their eyes sparked with interest.

Ace stirred, and gaped at the sight. The fighting had ceased. Pirates and marines alike stood at a standstill. He was wrapped up in transparent tendrils of… water?

“You’re awake.”

The strange voice sounded surprised.

“Who… What?”  
“A debt. And I’m quite fond of you, Ace. More specifically, your mother.”  
“My mother?”  
“Rouge.”

The name was spoken with such fondness that it took him aback. No one thought to mention his mother. They were more interested in that man. Ignoring Ace, they went on.

“It was Roger who could hear me, piqued my interest long enough to appear in front of him in my corporeal form. But it was Rouge that truly did the impossible.”  
“The… impossible?”

Ace asked, dazed.

“She carried you. Do you know that most of humans are water, especially in their early stages? And she had an excess of it, when she carried you for twenty months. With that excess… she summoned me. She was the first summoner that I had in ten millennia. And, the very first human. She was good to me, and I promised her that her child would live. Live to adulthood, at the very minimum.”

They turned, and Ace sucked in a harsh breath. Eyes unfathomable as the ocean stared at him unblinkingly on an exquisitely sculpted face.

“Have you been watching me all this time?”  
“No, I haven’t always been watching you. I’ve just been aware.”

A cold hand brushed his cheek. Cuts and bruises and all ill effects of starvation faded away at that touch. He felt at his prime. He looked at them in wonder. They smiled, small but genuine. 

“You look like her, you know. The only thing you’ve got from Roger is your eyes and hair. Rest of it is all Rouge. Especially the freckles.”

With a flick of their wrist, Ace went flying, crashing onto the board of the Moby Dick with Luffy. They stood in the no-man’s land between marines and pirates. They looked small next to the marines. With another flick of their fingers, the Whitebeard pirates were flung on board none too gently. Violent waves started to rock the ship. There was chaos on board, punctuated by the commanders yelling frantic orders. 

Ace looked up, and met their eyes. They smiled, and there was only darkness.

 

He sat up with a groan. It was… the New World. Far enough that no marines would be foolish enough to reach them. A louder groan sounded close by. No, it was closer to a snore. Luffy was snoring. The sight alone was enough to make him go into fits of hysterical laughter. Around him, people stirred. Whitebeard was the first to catch sight of him; crushing him into a gentle but firm hug. Ace wrapped his arms as best as he could around his father’s shoulders. The man who would have sacrificed himself for a nobody. He broke into tears. Sobs wracked his body. He meant to apologize, but all that would come out from his throat were broken sobs.

“Ace. Son. Look at me.”  
“S, so sorry. I’m so sorry, pops. I was, I was – an idiot.”  
“No, I ordered you to go.”

At those words, Ace’s throat closed up. He wanted to yell that it was his fault, his fault that Pops had almost died. His fault that his brothers died for him at Marineford. He wanted to yell at his father for claiming this when there was none that didn’t know the truth. But the words wouldn't come. He felt tears falling onto his back, large splashes on his bare back. Tears landing on his father's mark.

He was let down gently, on deck. He wanted to protest he wanted the warmth – then he was enveloped in a warm hug. Marco, dirty and bloodied from battle was looking at him like he had come back from the dead. He had, hadn’t he? If that person hadn’t intercepted Akainu’s fist, then he would have died. Died with magma bubbling in his stomach, destroying him from the inside.

Ace felt fresh tears filling up. The rest was all a blur. He was passed from person to person, and he ached at the sight of the injuries they had received during the battle. But their eyes weren’t filled with accusation. Only with a warmth that shocked him.

They loved him.

Even though he was the devil’s spawn, he was loved. 

That triggered another round of tears, and he cried silently as he tried to find the words to say thank you. But his throat had closed up, and he was overtaken by sudden fatigue. He staggered to Pops’ chair and curled up next to it. As darkness washed over him, he felt warm hands lifting him up and settling him on Pops’ knee. A ghost of a caress danced over his cheek, and he whispered a silent thank you to his mother. She had saved him twice from certain death.

**Author's Note:**

> Hope you enjoyed it :)


End file.
